‘I’m so grateful’: Canadian Mattea Roach wins 12-straight game on Jeopardy!
Posted Apr 21, 2022 8:58 am.
Jeopardy! contestant Mattea Roach, the 23-year-old patron saint of Canadian nerds, has cracked the Top 10 list for most consecutive regular-season wins.
A law school tutor, Roach won her 12th-straight episode of the TV quiz show on Wednesday night.
She’s tied for Number 9 on the list of regular-season winning streaks with Austin Rogers and Seth Wilson, who were on the show in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Jeopardy! Champion-turned-host Ken Jennings, who won 74 games in 2004, tops the list, while Amy Schneider ranks second after a 40-game streak earlier this year.
Mattea Roach lives in Toronto and hails from Halifax — a distinction she’s said her parents urged her to make.
“I’m only 23. So, this is like so much more money than I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Roach said on Wednesday. “It’s really amazing. I’m so grateful.”
She’s said on the show that she spent her childhood and part of her adolescence in Halifax, but has also lived in Calgary and Moncton, N.B.
“This has been such a crazy season of streaks,” Roach said. “I was fully thinking, you know, Amy might still be here. If it’s not Amy, there’s going to be some other super-champion that’s just going to knock me out game one. And then, I guess what I didn’t realize is maybe I could become the super champion I wanted to see in the world.”
The Canadian’s knowledge has been impressive to date. Roach currently has a 93 per cent “clue response” accuracy rating and an 88 per cent Daily Double accuracy rating, according to Jeopardy! stats.
“I’m not one of those people who’s like, this is, you know, the house’s money or money to play around with,'” Roach said. “I’m no James Holzhauer. So, I like to be conservative with wagering.”
Roach has said it’s been an honour to appear on the show made famous by fellow Canadian, the late Alex Trebek.
“I was very proud to represent Toronto, very proud as well to represent Nova Scotia, and proud as well to represent all of Canada,” Roach told CityNews in early April.
“Especially with Alex Trebek being the host of Jeopardy! for such a long time and him being a Canadian icon, I think it’s always very special as a Canadian to get to go and represent your country on Jeopardy! To go and to do that and to win is just the cherry on top.”
With files from the Canadian Press
